Discover the transformative journey of Father Andre, from his early life escaping Christian massacres to leading the Mission of Hope and Mercy. This episode sheds light on essential Easter traditions and their significance for modern believers, highlighting the everlasting impact of the resurrection on our faith. Father Andre emphasizes the importance of supporting global missions and encourages listeners to contribute to charitable works, showcasing how faith is deeply tied to compassion and outreach. Join us to rediscover the spiritual strength that Easter offers and how sharing it can renew faith worldwide.
At age 10, Father Andre escaped Christian massacres by living in caves in Mount Lebanon with his family. Today, Father Andre works tirelessly to encourage American leaders to keep God in the public square, defending religious freedom at home and abroad, so that all might live in peace for the glory of God. Founder and president of the Mission of Hope and Mercy, Father Andre has learned the secret to safety, joy, and peace. Love God and one another. Now, let us spend 33 minutes on the Lord’s Day, retuning ourselves to the truth of love in the hands of God.
SPEAKER 01 :
Christ is risen. Christ is truly risen. Indeed, he is risen. Hallelujah. Happy Easter and the wonderful season and beautiful Sunday of Easter Sunday. You know, this is one of the unique Sundays throughout the calendar of the years because, you know, we just celebrated the Jewish Passover, the Orthodox Easter and the Catholic Easter. East and West celebrated one unified Easter, which happens every four years in a cycle, basically. so in the celebration of easter as you can tell we come in a cycle of every four years to celebrate it together and then we start celebrating it apart one week two weeks three weeks four weeks up to five weeks believe it or not the celebration of easter sunday between the orthodox churches and the catholic churches could be united like we have now today on this beautiful easter sunday or it could actually get separated so we will have two easters because we follow two types of calendars. We follow the Julian calendar in the east and the Gregorian calendar in the west. And you know the story of the calendar is something of course you can look up online, but it has to do between the difference between the old Jewish calendar and the Julian calendar, and then the Gregorian calendar, which is about 500 years ago, when it started on October 5th. People just slept in Rome and they woke up and they saw a decree from Pope Gregory, I believe Pope Gregory XIII, stating, today you woke up and it is October, instead of October 6th, he told them today is October 15th. Something like that. So there were like 10 or 15 days that he changed in the calendar immediately and that was done in order to rectify the solar daily hours of our year so they can match almost as much as possible 365 days. And, of course, he didn’t ask the patriarch of Byzantium at the time, and there was no agreement between the East and the West, and the calendar changed. And so one night people slept. It was October 5. The second day they woke up, it was October 15. And then here you have 10 days of lapses. between the Julian calendar and the Gregorian calendar but that calendar and somehow has objectives and it had the justifications as you can tell today in the world all the world basically follow this Gregorian calendar and somehow when it comes to our if I may call it the world hour the world time and somehow But that’s not the key for our celebration today on the Sunday of the great resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our key today is to celebrate together what is the resurrection of Jesus. You know, if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God because we testified of God that he raised Christ. This is St. Paul, not me, this is St. Paul in his first epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 15, verse 14 to 15. You know, according to Pope Benedict XVI, he says, with these words, St. Paul explains quite drastically what faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ means for the Christian message overall. In fact, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundation of our Christian faith. Yes. That’s why St. Paul says, if Christ was not raised, our faith would be for sure in vain, and we would be misrepresenting God, meaning God did not raise Jesus Christ. But that’s exactly what we celebrate. We celebrate God did resurrect Jesus Christ. God did love the world all the way to the end to the fact that he sent him his only begotten son. And, you know, we did what we do best. Remember, for almost throughout the entire season of Lent on our radio show, on these 33 minutes with the Lord on the Lord’s Day, and then with our program, Good Sunday Morning with Father Andre with KNUS, we have been saying we wanted to speak about the mystery of the betrayer. And I keep on repeating this so our listeners, our friends on the radio show will understand There are two plans. One plan is God’s plan, and it’s always the same. God’s plan doesn’t change. God’s plan is love. God’s plan is salvation. And that’s why we call it the salvation plan of God. He made the entire world out of love. And he did it to please Adam and Eve. And he did it, in fact, to give us an entire world to dominate. But then an angel betrayed God. That’s where the mystery of the betrayer, we said, started. Started in heaven, for God’s sake. And a third of the angels in heaven fell because of them defying God’s decision. He eternally decided to create man in his image and likeness. And that was an act of love. Now today, on the Sunday of the resurrection, God the Father who made the first decision, now today he crushes Satan again in the bottom of hell. And he tells him, my children you do not touch. And I said, they are created in our image and likeness. And here is my son. He died for them. And of course, in the Christ resurrection today, there is this beautiful Greek chant that depicts the epic resurrection. of this beautiful, beautiful occasion when we say which means basically Christ is risen from the dead and he trampled death by death and he freed all those who were held captive in the world of death since the beginning of Adam and Eve. Basically, Jesus Christ today, on the Sunday of the resurrection, freed Adam and Eve and opened back heaven for them. That’s the beauty of the celebration of Easter. It’s a big thing, guys. This is really something to be excited about. Of course, we have the Easter egg hunt. Of course, we have the beautiful clothes. Of course, we have the beautiful meal. Of course, we stop the fasting. These are days of beautiful celebration and celebration of the resurrection of Christ. But these are responsible days as well. For us Christians. But first of all, before we continue, let us pray together a little bit. And I’d like you to listen to this chant. Christ is risen from the dead and he raised and he trampled the death by death. Remember these words. Christ is risen from the tomb and he trampled death by death. And he freed, he gave life back to all the souls who were held captive in another world. And in Greek, this beautiful chant is announced, of course, at the early morning, according to the Gospel of St. Mark, which we read for the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, which we all know, you know, when we say early in the morning, right? Early in the morning. Of course, in the early in the morning when the women went to the tomb and they saw that there was no body, Of Christ there. And of course according to the gospel of St. Matthew. And the women were saying who is going to remove this big tombstone for us. And of course with the agreement in the holy gospel according to St. Matthew as well. He has risen from the dead. And goes before you to Galilee. So not only he has risen. He’s back to work. That’s a beautiful message of Easter Sunday. According to the gospel of Mark. Early in the morning when the ladies went. The tomb was empty. The empty tomb. he’s not there you’re searching for christ for jesus nazarene he’s not there he has been raised and then of course um in his encounter he tells him peace be with you the beautiful peace of the risen lord that no death no evil no suffering today my message to you my brothers and sisters who are suffering in your homes who are suffering in your places of work now if you’re driving Arrive safe and then take a moment and say, well, thank God. Thank God that truthfully he proved that through the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, my life is not in vain. Otherwise, I tell you, you have a serious problem. Before we go to the prayer and we chant this beautiful resurrection of the Lord from the Greek tradition and from the Aramaic tradition, when we chant today the Kaddishat, aloha, And then we say, In the Aramaic language, which means, Before we do all of these beautiful things on today, this exciting Sunday of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, remove every chain with which you are bound, my friends. Remove it from you. Remove every bounding. Remove it. Remove it completely away from you. Let the Lord Jesus Christ enter into you and remove the stone hearts from us today. This is one of the things we could do for those who are sad, for those who are in nursing homes, might be listening to this radio show. I don’t know, the Lord might be speaking to a mother who’s suffering because of sickness of her child because of a couple who’s suffering because of a problem in their marriage or because or a minister or a priest who’s suffering because of isolation or because of people trying you know people are and somehow they’re seeking us as well the same way they saw Jesus Christ giving false witnesses testimonies they’re hurting us right And the shepherds who might be thinking that they are God today, right? And I’m not saying the shepherds are the good shepherds. I’m talking to the shepherds probably who misrepresent God by St. Paul, the first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 15. You know, there are effects for the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. One of which is the pardon. The pardon. One of which is the right use of authority. Jesus Christ, my dear shepherds, my dear pastors, my dear priests, when he used his authority, he did not abuse it. He did not count his unity with his father, his glory with his father as a privilege for him. He did not come on planet Earth and he killed the sinners and he, you know, whatever you want to say, did what probably many, many people who today are in the realm of the spiritual leadership are abusing their authorities hurting their priests hurting their clergy hurting their parishes you know money and money and more the entire ministry of the church it feels today in christianity needs to ask itself a question what am i leading by by the power of god and his faith hope and love and his mercy and pardon or by the power of money we do have a major problem in christianity today my friends is a problem of the foundation of our authority. What is the foundation of the authority of the bishop? What is the foundation of the authority of a pastor? What is the foundation of the authority of a Christian baptizer person? Is it the privileges, the entitlement, or their personal knowledge that we have the Bible, we know the Bible, we know this, we know that? Or is it really founded on the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who rose from the dead, the tomb was empty, greeted them with the peace be with you from God in heaven, And he said, hey, I am going ahead of you to Galilee. Go, meet me there. While he’s saying this, according to the Gospel of Matthew chapter 28 as well, and the Gospel of Mark, and the Gospel of John, and the Gospel of St. Luke, At the same way, in the Gospel of Saint John, what is Jesus doing on the day of his resurrection? He is walking to Emmaus. He’s taking a walk with two of his heartbroken disciples. They were so heartbroken. He walks with them like a stranger. And as he’s walking with them like a stranger, he tells them, what’s up with you? Why are you so sad? And one of the disciples look at him and he tells him, are you the only stranger in Jerusalem? Didn’t you know what our priest, what our chief priest, didn’t you know what our people did to him, to Jesus Christ? And today is the third day to his death. And worse than this, here’s some women telling us that they went to the tomb and he’s not there. So they knew the women had done their job. One of the beautiful things about Mary Magdalene, Beside her personal repentance and her personal story, coming from the abyss of sin all the way to be the most esteemed being, you know, after the Virgin Mary. And, of course, in Jesus’ eyes, everybody is highly esteemed. But in the story of the gospel, Mary Magdalene, you know, we call her Apostula Apostolorum in Latin, which means the apostle to the apostles. Imagine, Jesus spends three years of his public life, every day, every night, being with Peter, being with his disciples, being with his apostles, telling them the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven a little bit as much as they could understand because they did not yet have the Holy Spirit with them, right? But educating them somehow. And prophesying, telling them, here’s what’s going to happen to me. And on the third day, the Son of Man will rise. And then, of course, Peter tells him, no, nothing’s going to happen to you. And Jesus tells him, hush, Satan. Basically, in literal, excuse me, in colloquial English, like, oh, shut up, Peter. Satan, he calls him. Your ways are not my ways. They’re not the ways of the Lord. Your ways are not the way. Get behind me, Satan, he tells him. And so even the apostles who were so prepared, Jesus did not surprise his apostles about the treason he will suffer. Even at the last supper he told them, I will be betrayed by a kiss. I will be betrayed by the one who’s gonna eat and drink from my bread and my cup. He announced all of that. He even told Peter, hey, you’re gonna denounce me three times. before the rooster, of course, gives his sound early in the morning. And all of the things that Jesus told his disciples happened. So Jesus, walking patiently with his two disciples who are heartbroken, even though they knew all these stories, they knew he will rise from the dead. And the women, the Apostola Apostolorum Mary Magdalene came to them and she did announce to the apostles who were locked in the upper room in Jerusalem, where the same place where Jesus stayed with his apostles and celebrated the Last Supper on Holy Thursday night of Holy Week, a few days back, and he did the washing of their feet, he prayed for their unity, and then he showed them the mystery of salvation and instituted his real presence that he tells them, every time you do this in memory of me, meaning you eat this bread and you drink from this cup, Every time you do this, do this in memory of me. Jesus instituted everything. He celebrated himself. That’s another thing I want to celebrate today. Jesus Christ is a priest. Jesus Christ is a king. Jesus Christ is a messiah. Jesus Christ is the only son of God. Jesus Christ is the savior of the world. He is God in unity with God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Three persons in one God. And he told his disciples he will send them the Holy Spirit. He instituted his mystical presence, his effective, powerful, sacred, not secret, sacred presence. Through the blessing he himself made over the bread and wine. And he said, this bread is my flesh. And this cup is my blood for the new and eternal covenant. There won’t be no more third covenant. This is it, my friends. Today, on this Easter Sunday, as you see, Jesus is busy. Goes to Galilee, and again, he sends Mary Magdalene and the women to the disciples who are heartbroken, saying in the upper room, Could he have appeared to them in the upper room on that same day? He waited for eight full days, an entire new creation, until the first Sunday of the first day of the week, which is Ahad, which means Sunday, basically. So eight days after his resurrection. Basically, he came back to them and he told them, peace be with you. Then he will meet with Thomas and he tells them, put your finger in my wounds. and stop being an unbeliever we have a lot jesus is busy on during the time of his resurrection and of course again this beautiful story the disciples of emmaus where he’s walking with them like stranger and he looks at them and he tells him okay i may be the only stranger to jerusalem but didn’t your books the psalms the prophets and the law And Allah, speak about your Messiah, that this is to happen to him. And then, of course, it was getting dark. They’re tired. And they look at him and they say to that stranger, would you please stay with us? Because the day came to its end. And the sun is setting. Please stay with us. He accepts their invitation. So tonight, on the Sunday of Easter as well, Jesus will go to these disciples, to do of his disciples in Emmaus, eight miles outside of Jerusalem, as he’s walking with them. You know, the man was beaten up to death, and a lance pierced his heart, and they pierced his hands, they pierced his feet, they pierced his side, they crowned him with thorns, they beat him up, they say in numbers in our Eastern tradition, over 4,500 times they beat him up. all over his bodies and then he walks for eight miles with these two disciples on the day of his resurrection after he had rested in the tomb and then he tells them hey you of little faith didn’t your torah didn’t your psalms didn’t your book of law didn’t your books of the prophets speak and foretell about the messiah and how he’s gonna suffer and he will rise And he started as a stranger. So the only stranger in Jerusalem, according to these two disciples, was actually their master, was actually their rabbi, was their Lord, was Jesus Christ. But this time, the risen Lord from the tomb. and then as they go in he blesses the bread and then he raises up the prayer to almighty god and the bible tells us in john i believe chapter 22 and their eyes were open you know so the beautiful resurrection day let us now go back to our prayer and chant together christ is risen from the tomb And he trampled death. He stepped over death. He danced in the dust of his enemies. He crushed the head of Satan. And he freed all the souls who were held captive in another world, in Sheol, in this world of darkness. Christo thanesti et necrom thanatum, thanatum patissas, quetis entes minimas iso in chares amenos. This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice in it and celebrate. Christo thanesti, ek nekrom thanatom, thanatom patissas, ke ti sentes min nasi zoi, charis amenos. So Christ is risen. Christ is truly risen. And then the Aramaic tradition instead, we go to the tomb at midnight in a church. And then, of course, the tomb is burst open and the light comes out of the tomb. And then we have the white linen, the white shroud that is folded, one piece on the side and the other longer piece. Where Jesus was laying as his body actually did not even disturb the actual linen through with which his body was covered. I do not know if you know that in the Aramaic tradition and the resurrection of the Lord, we celebrate the risen cross. So the cross where the crucifix is no longer there. and then the empty tomb, and we take out the white linen, we attach them to the cross, and we bless the world, the four corners of the world, with the powerful and the victorious and the conquering cross. So the priest basically, when he goes to the tomb, he chants, قَدِشَتْ أَلُهُ قَدِشَتْ حَيَلْتُونُ قَدِشَتْ لُمُيُوتُ بِشِيحُدُكُمْ مِنْ بَيْتْ مِيْتِهِ so that would be holy are you oh god holy are you a strong one holy are you immortal one and then the crowd will respond to christ who’s risen from the tomb have mercy on us they do this three times the tomb is open there is light and there is this cross without the crucifix and the linen nicely folded and covering the cross in the shape of an m and victory for victory And Jesus Christ, the cross is risen. And then the priest takes this beautiful cross. And then he goes to the four sides of the church. The first time to the facing east. Then the second time facing west. And then the third time facing south. And then the fourth time facing north. And every time he blesses and pray. May the peace of God the Father and the security of the Son and the reconciliation of the Holy Spirit be with us and among us all the days of our lives. Then the priest takes this empty, no crucifix on the cross, and with white linen folding nicely around the cross, forming the shape of the victory around the cross, you know, on the X side of the cross. And then he goes and he lays the cross in the center of the altar. And he says, we follow and pray, holding the cross with his right hand. I say, O Lord, you are the source of peace and security and the great treasure of reconciliation. Bestow upon us and among us your peace and security. Extend your merciful right hand on this holy place and on this congregation here present. And now I want to extend it to all of you who are listening to us on the waves of this KLZ show and KNUS radio shows. As they bow their bodies and souls before you to every home, bless them. To every human being that is listening to our prayer, bless them with your heavenly blessings. Bind us together and make us worthy to continuously glorify your Father and your Holy Spirit now and forever. Amen. So, my friends, these are some of the traditions that we celebrate because of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And here I have to be again mindful and reminding you about what we do in the mission of hope and mercy. Yes, indeed, Christ is risen. Yes, indeed, he is truly risen. And of course, when we speak about the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we shall not forget at all that the beauty of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is that his resurrection has effects. And his resurrection has effects on us all. His resurrection has to be extended to the entire world. And of course, ways to extend the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to the entire world is to be kind to one another, to be mindful of each other’s needs, and to remember that with the Lord’s resurrection, we too are invited to bring hope. To the broken hearted. To bring solace to those who are in need. To apply Jesus Christ’s rules, Jesus Christ’s commandments, the greatest commandments that he gave us. Love God from all your heart and of course love your enemy even. With that, my friends, I please encourage you and ask you, go to our missionofhopeandmercy.org, missionofhopeandmercy.org, and please show your support to the many of the brothers and sisters, the Christians who are in the world are in need for our help, are in need for our assistance. It will be great if we can support them. The Mission of Hope and Mercy is running its holy week. Easter Sunday and now we are coming of course to the Divine Mercy Sunday we have been we are running our campaign it is so important that we support our brothers and sisters in the world who are in need for our love who are in need for our support who are in need for our solidarity with them and so it will be great if you go online and you give in the spirit of easter you can do your tithing you know they announced christ’s resurrection to the whole world you know i’m talking christians in the middle east i’m talking christians in the lands where it all began i’m talking christians in africa i’m talking christians even here in the united states we have so many needs so many ways but we know that these christians in the lands where it all began where the mission of hope and mercy is taken care of Many of them, as much as you allow us to, they announced Christ’s resurrection to the whole world. Now let us share our gifts in his name. So as we have entered this holy season of blessed Easter now, I wish to extend to you the warmest of blessings of this wonderful and joyous celebration of the resurrection of our Lord. And again, I want to tell you, Christ is risen. And you respond from your homes. He is truly risen. Hallelujah. Let’s do it again. I say Christ is risen. And please say if you listen to the show, he is truly risen. Hallelujah. I wish for you to write as well to our email info at Mission of Hope and Mercy. Just write this. Christ is risen. He is truly risen. Hallelujah. And mail it to us to info at Mission of Hope and Mercy dot org. In the season of renewal and resurrection, I ask you to consider joining us in our special mission of hope. We are raising vital funds for critical programs that provide food, medicine, urgent surgeries, education, and advocacy to those in dire need. You can view our planned program summary that highlights all of our needs by going to missionofhopeandmercy.org. Go to the donation banner and you will see what we are doing under planned program summary. That is in missionofhopeandmercy.org. Go to the donation page, please. The rewards of this work are immeasurable blessings from heaven, healing in our own families, and the opportunity to encounter Christ in the faces of the poor, the sick, the brokenhearted, the orphaned, the widowed, the persecuted, and all those who suffer. This is the call of Christ to see him in those who are most in need. As we have approached now the end of Lent, and as we today on this joyful and glorious Easter Sunday, the day of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I humbly ask for you to consider a special gift for our mission of hope and mercy. Your tithing could go to the mission of hope and mercy. It is His hope that we give through your faithful financial support. it’s one of the ways we live by extension the concrete way of doing acts of charities in the name of our risen lord so a gift of hundred dollars supports medical aid for children and the elderly again a gift of hundred dollar could support medical aid for children and the elderly a gift for 250 dollars helps sustain refugees relief efforts and keep families safe a gift of five hundred dollars could support urgent medical care for up to five families a gift of one thousand dollars supplies the clothing shelter to displaced families all your gifts will be utilized for the good deeds of supporting and advocating and educating the world and also providing education for our brothers and sisters in the world i count on your prayers And I thank you for your continuous faith, hope and love for Christ and his children in need. May this Easter bring a new life, hope and blessings to you and to your loved ones. It is with my deep gratitude that as we now have approached and are celebrating this beautiful feast day of Easter Sunday, the resurrection of the Lord, that you please go to our website, missionofhopeandmercy.org. When you click to the donate page, you will see why your support matters. You will see why your support matters. You will see two videos. You will see a third video that we’re launching by our email. I invite you to subscribe to receive our email notifications and especially as in May, I will be leaving again to the world of the mission. Pray for me. We have work to do in Congo. Pray for me and for my team, our team, your team, your family of the mission of hope and mercy that we are doing work not only in the Middle East, in Eastern Africa, in Eastern Europe, in Africa, and here in the United States. Please pray for us and share our message and encourage others to give as well. Again, by going to missionofhopeandmercy.org, you will click on the donate page and you will see why your support matters. And of course, we are happy to receive your tithing on this Easter Sunday on behalf of everyone. I thank you for your support and also sign up. to receive our email information by going to our website and circle all the way down how you can sign up to receive our newsletter or to become volunteers. You can also mail us physical donations, physical checks. We have sent over 1,000 letters to people. If you are one of those people who received a letter from the Mission of Hope and Mercy, i promise you my team and myself we stuffed them by hand we placed them on the altar before we sent them by mailing to make sure they get to you safe we sent with them blessings more than anything else and i always do pray every day in my mass every day in my daily mass and my sunday mass for easter every day as a priest forever i offer my prayers to the family of the mission of hope and mercy that is you The donors, the listeners, the radio stations that allow us on the wave to do this beautiful program, to be with you 33 minutes on the Lord’s Day and to be with you, you know, with Father Andre on Good Sunday morning with Father Andre for the radio stations as well. So make sure you look at those things and you see the physical mailing. If you want to mail us back as well with donations, please mail it to our mission of hope and mercy. That is 2459 South Chase Lane, Lakewood, Colorado. That is 2459 South Chase Lane, Lakewood, Colorado, 80227, 80227. And again, our website is missionofhopeandmercy.org. That is missionofhopeandmercy.org. Go to the donate page and you will see under the donate page why your support matters. Cling to the power of the cross, my friends. I encourage you, call me, send me an email. I’d be happy to send you a cross. I love the cross of St. Benedict because it has a beautiful exorcism symbols and prayer for powerful, powerful presence of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If you like, you know, I’m happy to send you a beautiful crucifix to your homes, basically. May Almighty God bless us all, protect us from all evil, forgive us our sins, and bring us all by the power of the risen and Savior Jesus Christ and the power of His Holy Cross to the fullness of joy, peace, and victory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And may God bring us to everlasting life. Christ is risen. Christ is truly risen. Hallelujah.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thank you for listening to 33 Minutes on the Lord’s Day. To hear previous programs, visit the show page at missionofhopeandmercy.org. Listen to Father Andre every Sunday morning at 7.30 on KLZ as he speaks on the unity of Christians, religious freedom, and the biblical foundation of Judeo-Christian values and traditions. Join him in bringing hope and freedom to people across the globe while also strengthening your own faith, family, and community right here in Colorado. Reawaken the spiritual strength of America. Go to missionofhopeandmercy.org.
